Keith’s note: NASA issued a release today about Habitable Worlds Observatory tech development contracts. Once again, I am baffled why news involving the search for habitable worlds – a core astrobiology thing – doesn’t use the word “astrobiology” in the release or web pages about Habitable Worlds Observatory listed in the release. So I added them to what I am posting. It is cool to get Jared Isaacman quoted – in his own words. The more engaged the Administrator is in these things the better he can support them – and explain them to Congress and the White House. Searching for life elsewhere in the universe is one of the most profound things NASA does – shoulder to shoulder with searching for the origin of the universe itself and making humans a space faring species. NASA needs to develop a better style guide and outreach plan (actually it has never had an outreach plan) so as to better explain this cross-disciplinary activities to the public as well as policy makers. If NASA wants to retain/expand its leadership in space it needs to start telling a more compelling, cohesive, and strategically-enabled story. And oh yes – a story that touches and involves everyone, everywhere. Just sayin’.

Keith’s note: Good Morning NASA. Critics wallow in the mud. Heroes live above the sky and reach for the stars. You rock Mark Kelly. Turn up the volume. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ydz5-ecdpg

Keith’s note: Astrobiologist Dale Andersen will be back in Antarctica at Lake Untersee from early January through the end of February 2026 for another field season of research, leading an international field team of graduate students and scientists from the United States, Canada, and Austria. Dale and his team are in Cape Town South Africa preparing their gear for the flight south to Antarctica. Full report

• NASA Watch @NASAWatch: Whenever #Artemis II happens it will be the first time billions will see humans leave Earth to visit another world. Yes, there are delays but when it happens let’s all applaud this new chapter in human exploration. @NASA @ExplorersClub @rookisaacman
• NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman @NASAAdmin: I couldn’t agree more. This is what we do at NASA. Artemis II is the first step in America’s grand return to the Moon, and we will be very transparent about technical readiness and timelines after rollout. Preparations for Artemis II will rightly command the majority of our attention, but the missions that follow across human exploration, science, and aeronautics will be ambitious and inspiring. We are just getting started.

Keith’s note: NASA has just authored a paper on a new way for people with a wide variety of interests to use – and build – sensor technology that is a preview of the devices we will use to explore other planets. How will we develop these instruments – sensors, tricorders, scanners, smartphones – call them what you will is now underway at NASA. There is a vibrant citizen science / open science / DIY / “hacker” community in America and around the world that seeks to make interesting things out of ordinary materials. Cellphones outperform what we would have called a “super computer” just a generation ago – and they are in everyone’s pocket. Electronic parts can be bought online and how-to instructions are openly available online – globally. Full story

Keith’s note: according to Brian Hughes exits NASA, teases ‘new chapter’ “Brian Hughes, who most recently has served as Chief of Staff at NASA, says he’s exiting that role and preparing for his next move. On LinkedIn Hughes posted “NASA is entering an exciting new era under Jared and President Trump.”

Keith’s note: On this date (3 January 1958) Sir Edmund Hillary’s team reached Earth’s South Pole – the first time humans had gone overland in 50 years after Amundsen/Scott. Now we’re flying recons over the Moon 50 years after Apollo to land at the lunar south pole – next to craters named after Antarctic explorers.

Keith’s note: NASA has been closing its libraries for a long time. Budgetary and building issues are usually the prime reason. Usually, stuff gets moved around and put in storage for years until the storage costs mount and then a portion ends up in someone’s library – somewhere – and the rest gets shipped to some generic GSA warehouse – or thrown away. Now it is GSFC’s turn to go through this painful process – not only with their collection but also the NASA HQ library that was moved there when the HQ library was converted to a visitor center. They have assured NASA HQ that nothing valuable will be lost. NASA’s record in this regard is somewhat rocky. More below.

Keith’s note: this is an except from the GESTA IFPTE Local 29 blog Building Closure Updates 27 Dec 2025 – it is important to note that this library also includes the contents of the NASA HQ library which was closed and removed to make a visitor’s center. More below

Keith’s note: [Preface: I was going to post something about the GSFC Library closure next week. I just came across this on Twitter – posted earlier today. NASA PAO no longer wants to send me things so I may be behind posting things from now on.] That said, here are two tweets from Jared Isaacman on the matter. This issue arose weeks ago. A preemptive post like these tweets at that time would have stopped news stories and lurid headlines in their tracks – or at least dampened them. Pro tip to NASA PAO: get out ahead of your controversies. Don’t just wait until they fester online and start to grow and then find yourself doing a diving catch during the holidays when things start to heat up. Tweets below:

Keith’s note: Playing with memes – prompted by other memes. Much of the what is being pumped out on social media by the Administration and its agencies seems to be more about bullying and less about inspiration.

Keith’s 2 Jan 2025 update: I posted this a year ago. We are coming up on the agency’s Remembrance Day observations. We’re about to see humans return to the Moon. NASA has not bothered to update or repost this link. Why airbrush history when you are trying to repeat it? Keith’s original 26 Jan 2025 note: Looks like this DEIA-oriented page at NASA.gov needs to be erased ASAP: “45 Years Ago: NASA Selects 35 New Astronauts On Jan. 16, 1978, NASA announced the selection of 35 new astronauts, the first time in more than eight years that the agency had admitted new astronauts. The selection of the first class of space shuttle astronauts held historic significance not only because of its then-record size but also because, for the first time, the group included women and minorities. Previous astronaut selections in the 1960s consisted of test pilots or scientists, in those days the domain principally of white men.“ Update: I posted this on Sunday morning, 26 January. I checked today – 27 January – and it is gone.  This is what it looked like 2 days before being removed.

Keith’s note: NASA is being rather shy about Artemis II launch dates and windows. Why?

• According to NASA Press Secretary Bethany Stevens @NASASpox “opportunities for Artemis II open February 6 and extend through the spring” [Note: “spring” extends until 21 June]
• But the NASA Artemis page makes no mention of launch date/window.
• And this 23 Dec 2025 Artemis II update makes no mention of a launch date/window.

Keith’s note: I did an A.I. search. There are approx 114,500 grammar, junior, high schools (public & private) in America. Space them out from here to the Moon (239,000 miles) and you get one every 2 miles. 3 million classrooms is 12 per mile. That infrastructure houses 55 million students – the Artemis Generation. As a child of the Apollo Generation I think a successful metric for NASA outreach for Artemis II and beyond would be a NASA poster, study plan, model, webcast in every classroom in America. Prove me wrong. NASA has had a decade or more to plan this. (Thanks Grok!)

Keith’s note: Two officially-issued, government-sanctioned, and un-redacted Santas: NASA Santa and DHS ICE Santa. Seriously. Both were issued by the same government. Ho Ho Ho.

Keith’s note: I was just on i24 TV in Israel talking with Ellie Hochenberg (who opened with (“there is a starman waiting in the skies and he has the keys to NASA now”) about Jared Isaacman, NASA, exploration, Artemis, and the future in space [Audio]

Keith’s note: the webcast can be seen here. NASA has it set so that I cannot embed it.

Keith’s note: Looks like NASA HQ is upset with me because I posted text of an email that multiple employees sent me with links that were included got overloaded. No mention of classification or proprietary nature. They are now blaming me – in this case in a phone call – for blocking people at #NASA from accessing the town hall. Yea its my fault for blocking NASA’s ability to serve up a simple webcast. This is wacky. The same organization that can program spacecraft in interstellar space has no idea how to do load balancing and traffic management. I think its time that I turn this damn thing off Jared Isaacman. When NASA blames a 70 year old retiree sitting in his basement for thousands of employees not hearing what you have to say then something is seriously screwed up – with NASA – not me. This is not a new problem with NASA IT. Now I guess I am waiting for some NASA IT cops to come after me. It was a mistake to bring NASAWatch back. Beam me up.

Keith’s note: FWIW my advice for Jared Isaacman at the town hall. I think he gets this. As the NASAWatch guy, former NASA civil servant/contractor – and Apollo era child: You do not need to give a motivational pep talk to NASA people. No where else does someone get to go to work every day to explore the universe. This is baked into the soul of everyone within and around the agency. And it has been simmering in there for decades, often since childhood. The workforce has been through a lot – budget cuts, layoffs, buyouts etc. They just want to know that they have a leader who will lead – and learn – and have their back. Its that simple. Ad Astra y’all.

Keith’s note: The above email was sent out to NASA employees at 8:33 am ET today. If you click on https://townhall.nasa.gov/vpncheck/ It checks you out and sends you to a VPN firewall and then a NASA Access Launchpad security thing. If you click on https://nasa.cnf.io/sessions/frpn/#!/dashboard to submit questions you are asked for name email and center. I just typed in my real name (Hi NASA!) and said I worked at “N/A” center and I got in. Interestingly each of the questions identifies the specific individual asking the question by name – so beware …. I tweeted the questions asked (see below) – with submitter names deleted. More below. Update: According to NASA Press Secretary Bethany Stevens “@NASAAdmin Jared Isaacman is having his first town hall internally with NASA employees to foster a culture of open discussion and mission-first collaboration with his team. We understand there is a great deal of interest in what will be said in today’s town hall. As such, we will be releasing it in its entirety following the event. NASA is committed to open communication, but agency wide workforce meetings serve an important purpose of allowing employees a direct line of communication and candid conversation with the Administrator without outside influence.”